Inventions During My Lifetime

"In 1793, Eli Whitney invented a simple machine that influenced the history of the United States. He invented a cotton gin that was popular in the South. The South became the cotton producing part...
Read MORE...

...Probably the most important developments in the science of electricity started with the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta. This battery gave the world its first...
Read MORE...

"... The first known bicyclist was the Comte de Sivrac, who was seen riding a two-wheel 'wooden horse' in Paris in 1791, the Smithsonian reports. Among its many drawbacks was that it was impossible...
Read MORE...

"... in 1811 George Stephenson made an engine. 'At last something practical has been designed,' thought many. George improved his design, and by 1825 his locomotion was on the rails. This was the...
Read MORE...

...John Baptist von Helmont, born at Brussels in 1677, while engaged in chemical research, discovered gas and named it. An English rector, Rev. Dr. John Clayton, discovered coal gas in 1792, thereby...
Read MORE...

In 1827 the first friction match was invented in England by John Walker. Walker's matches were sticks tipped with a mixture of chemicals that burst into flame when scratched against a rough...
Read MORE...

"The custom of sending Christmas cards was started in the UK in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a civil servant (Government worker) who had helped set-up the new 'Public Record Office' (now called the ...
Read MORE...

1843: Until September 9, 1843, ice cream was made by the "pot freezer method," but on this day, Nancy M. Johnson of Philadelphia got her "artificial freezer" patented, containing a tub, cylinder,...
Read MORE...

"THE FIRST elastic bands, made from vulcanised rubber, were patented on March 17, 1845, by Stephen Perry of Messrs Perry & Co, rubber manufacturers of London. Production of rubber bands 'for papers,...
Read MORE...

"John Gorrie was born in 1803 and spent most of his childhood in South Carolina. After receiving a degree in medicine, he moved to Apalachicola, Florida, a port city on the Gulf of Mexico. In...
Read MORE...

This year is the seventy-fifth anniversary or the potato chip and a resident of Saratoga Springs advises The New Yorker that many of the older neighbors are all excited. It seems that the chip was...
Read MORE...

Really a Capital Production!The celebrity of Gayett's Medicated Paper for the water-closet is rapidly being extended throughout the United States. It is one of the best articles ever put before the ...
Read MORE...

... In 1867 Mr. C. Latham Sholes, a printer and editor; Mr. Samuel W. Soule, a printer, and Mr. Carlos Glidden, a retired merchant, all residents of Milwaukee, inspired by an article of the London...
Read MORE...

This FREE genealogy website is a collection of contributions from many generous "family" members who want to share their family with others. We are not necessarily related to or researching a person just because their name is on this site. While we do our best to be accurate, we sometimes make mistakes. Please use this information as a guide. Verify the information with your own research. If you find any errors, please email us and report them. Thanks!